Technical processes and facilities of all types, for example technical production operations such as welding facilities in the automobile industry, or technical processing operations such as refineries in the petroleum processing industry, are controlled with the aid of digital computing systems. Besides the industrial control units that actually control the particular process, there are numerous additional data processing units present that are predominantly used to display and/or specify process data. Such industrial observation/operator""s units, sometimes also called xe2x80x9coperator panels,xe2x80x9d are stand-alone data processing units. These units are connected to the industrial control unit used for process control, and allow process data for the control unit to be outputted and/or specified, usually in a very clear graphic form.
As a rule, the type of display and the available means for display and input, such as a so-called touch screen, a keyboard, and programmable control keys, to name a few examples, are programmed depending on the application and the type of associated technical process. It is especially important that the programming take into account which particular measured values are provided by the measured-value transmitters distributed in the technical process, and which control values must be provided by the industrial observation/operator""s unit to the actuators distributed in the technical process.
Since the programming of industrial observation/operator""s units is costly, and the observation/operator""s units in an industrial facility are not available for programming but are instead required for operation of the facility, specialized projection units are provided. A quasi-offline projection data record can thus be generated that is tailored to the architecture and the characteristic features of the particular technical process. Furthermore, the special needs of the facility operator regarding suitability for observation/operation can be taken into account in the projection. Loading a completed projection data record into an observation/operator""s unit allows the operating personnel to operate a technical process or facility in addition to supplementary control and regulation components in an optimized, individualized manner.
In many cases a projection data record is relatively extensive, since an abundance of graphical displays and technical data connections in particular between the technical process and an industrial control unit, as well as between the technical process and an observation/operator""s unit, must be taken into consideration. Moreover, in the generation phase of a projection data record it is frequently the case that only minor adjustments need to be made. A simple case of such an adjustment is found when an additional measured-value transmitter has been installed in the technical facility. The additional measurement signal provided by this measured-value transmitter must be sent to the industrial control unit and processed by the unit""s control program, and, in addition, the projection data record of an associated industrial observation/operator""s unit, for example, must be adjusted so that the additional measured value is displayed in selected charts.
The problem thus arises that even after a minor adjustment in the projection unit, a projection data record must be fully reloaded into the associated observation/operator""s unit in order to activate the changes, which is extremely time-consuming. In practice, a projection unit is often connected to an observation/operator""s unit via a serial interface. Loading a projection data record via such a transmission link takes even more time.
An object of the invention is to provide a system which reduces the loading time required to transmit a projection data record from a projection unit to an observation/operator""s unit.
According to one formulation of the invention, a system for visualizing technical process data, includes: a) a first transmission link for data, b) at least one industrial observation and/or operator""s unit for displaying and/or specifying process data, and c) a projection unit for generating a projection data record which can be loaded via the first transmission link into the observation and/or operator""s unit, for at least influencing the display and/or the specification of process data. In the system according to the invention, a projection unit further includes a component which forms a differential data record when a projection data record is modified. This differential data record can be transmitted to the observation and/or operator""s unit via a first data transmission link. In addition, the observation and/or operator""s unit includes a component which updates a loaded projection data record with the aid of a transmitted differential data record.
An advantage of the invention is that a projection data record, particularly after only minor adjustments, need not be completely transmitted to an observation and/or operator""s unit. Transmission of only those differential data records containing modifications takes significantly less time. Even further time-savings can be realized by updating only the affected parts of the projection data record on the part of the observation and/or operator""s unit. In contrast, complete replacement of a projection data record is considerably more costly and, in a sense, is comparable to the installation of a new operating system.